Non-League Day: The Best Remedy For International Break Blues

If you’re a regular Premier League match-goer who’ll be without your weekly fix of live football this weekend, I come bearing some exciting news.

You don’t have to mull around in a sulk all weekend, you don’t have to briefly conjure a fleeting interest in a sport that doesn’t measure up to the beautiful game, you don’t have to count down the hours until the national side’s next underwhelming clash. There is another way: Non-League Day.

As Premier League teams unashamedly regaled in the tiresome hyperbole of “Transfer Deadline Day” and Sky Sports championed the stratospheric spending—a figure that topped £800 million—spare a thought for those clubs a little further down the football pyramid.

Even for teams in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English game, sustaining a profitable and prosperous football club is quickly becoming an arduously difficult task. But what of those teams that play outside the Football League itself? Those teams that, in many respects, are the last bastions of the lingering blue-collar, grass-roots essence of the game?

Times are undeniably and almost impossibly difficult for myriad non-league teams. Indeed, just looking at my own local area, a small portion of Merseyside known as the Wirral, two of the well-established sides outside of the coveted 92 have endured turbulent times as of late.

Vauxhall Motors FC, a longstanding member of the Conference set-up and a team that were beating sides like QPR in the FA Cup but 12 years ago, recently tendered their resignation from the Conference North. This was due to an “unsustainable position” caused “low gates and ever-increasing financial costs” according to club chairman Alan Bartlam, per BBC Sport.

Another club based on the Wirral also had to withdraw its membership from their division, as Cammell Laird FC pulled out of the Northern Premier League due to ongoing problems with finance and ownership. They’ve since reformed as Cammell Laird 1907 FC and now play their football in the North-West Counties League; the ninth tier of English football.

So within a miniscule, affluent corner of the country there are two clubs from outside the Football League that are on their knees, crippled by the demands of the modern game. And yet you can guarantee there will be a plethora clubs across the entire nation in comparable predicaments.

But it’s encouraging that the wheels are seemingly in motion when it comes to breathing some life back into grass roots football.

“Non-League Day” (NLD) is into its fourth year now,  an annual event that’s already yielded plenty for those clubs in the lower reaches of the football hierarchy. Set up by QPR fan James Doe in 2010, supporters from around the UK are encouraged to check out their local non-league side with the top-flight football calendar punctured by the international break.

This year, NLD will be on 6 September 2014 and James told me a little about how the initiative was born:

I had been to watch QPR in a pre-season friendly in Tavistock and was made aware how important the fixture was for the non-league side as it brought in significant extra funds. Soon after I went to watch Harrow Borough back in London and heard announcements being made for a fundraiser for new floodlight bulbs.

Naively, I was quite struck by this and thought the club would routinely cover such things. Given the financial climate at the time, I thought they couldn’t be the only ones and set about thinking of ways I could somehow make a difference.

It’s hugely encouraging that somebody is trying to raise awareness of what football has to offer at this level, which is plenty.

While the bright lights of the Premier League naturally hog most of the spotlight for the casual fan, it’s important to consider the significance this underpinning level of football not only brings to the game’s holistic structure, but to general facets of everyday society too.

“Non-league football is the bedrock of the game in this country,” James told me. “It provides affordable and accessible football to people from all backgrounds whether you want to play, volunteer or simply watch.”

“It’s is an essential part of the national game’s structure with clubs providing pathways for local children or a second chance for players who don’t make the grade at professional academies. Others simply act as focal points for the local community.”

There’s a commonly held view that those clubs who indulge in the riches that accompany top tier football care little for the fortunes of those less illustrious outfits. But the distinguished institutions in the upper reaches of the hierarchy look as though they’re also beginning to cotton on to the critical role the football at this level plays, as their interaction with NLD has become increasingly commonplace.

“Arsenal were one of the first to get involved in 2012 by lending Boreham Wood their team bus to take them to their away match on Non-League Day” explained James. “This has now become a tradition they have repeated every year since.”

“Last year we began to see players posing for photos of support and we now get plenty of programme and website mentions from clubs throughout the Premier League and from the league itself.”

Indeed, other massive clubs are also encouraging their supporters to sample the non-league atmosphere. A quick Google search of NLD will yield information from Everton, Crystal Palace and Tottenham about the initiative, local teams and how fans can fill the football void during the Premier League’s brief hiatus.

Indeed, as NLD grows and big clubs and familiar faces begin to lend their support more willingly—Southampton legend Matt le Tissier is backing the campaign this year—it can only be a positive for football at grass roots level. But as James explains, the future of the non-league game is far from secure and plenty depends on continued involvement from some of the games big hitters.

“If they continue to engage with our event and then devote more time to fostering year round relationships with one or two local non-league clubs then things could really improve.”

“A concerted effort to encourage people going to Tottenham or West Ham to stop in at Haringey Borough or Clapton on their way to a 5:30 p.m. game could make a huge difference, even if only 1% of the 35,000 made the effort to do so.”

So for those that cherish the sanctity of live, pure football in a wonderfully raw format, instead of sampling a typically moribund international friendly or an uncompetitive qualifying match on television, why not get out and see some spirited action on your doorstep?

If you did, you’d be contributing to a fantastic initiative, and one that James feels isn’t too far away from making an extremely positive impact on the non-league landscape.

“As an organisation, we at NLD like to stress positives so we the hope future [of non-league football] will be a good one and only a few small steps need to be taken to make sure that it is.”

For more information on NLD and details on where you can find your local non-league team, visit their website here.